SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings and his teammates have been wearing shirts all season that label the Mustangs as defending champions, even as they play their first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“Just gives us confidence to know that we can continue to go on and win another one as well without having any doubt,” Jennings said. “So just having a reminder that we can do it.”
After winning the American Athletic Conference title last year, the ninth-ranked Mustangs (10-1, 7-0 ACC, No. 9 CFP) are now set to play in the ACC championship game, and possibly the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, regardless of the result in their final regular season game. They’ll host fellow league newcomer California (6-5, 2-5) on Saturday, marking their first game as a top 10 team since 1985.
Coach Rhett Lashlee wanted his players to carry the same championship mindset as they entered a power conference.
“Let’s act like it, let’s believe it, let’s know that’s who we are,” Lashlee said this week. “We haven’t talked about it since August, but yeah, that was the whole point (of the shirts). And not that we thought it was going to win us any games, but there’s a mindset and a mentality… let’s carry ourselves like defending champs.”
Before turning their focus to the ACC title game, where the winner advances to the playoff, the Mustangs have the opportunity to clinch the regular-season title and finish undefeated in conference play for the second year in a row. Their 16-game conference win streak is a school record, and that doesn’t even include their win in the AAC title game last December, which was Jennings’ first start.
“They’ve done a great job in recruiting and, you know, developing their team,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said of the Mustangs. “It’s easy to see when you turn on the tape why their record is what it is. So it’s a great challenge in every phase.”
California is bowl eligible after last week’s win over Stanford, another ACC newcomer.
